POLICY PANEL at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCS), Saturday 21 Oct. 2023. As the President of the Modern Greek Studies Association (MGSA), Professor Katerina Lagos informed us "the inspiration for this three-day conference (Oct.19 – 21, 2023) came from the events surrounding the Bicentennial of the Greek Revolution. Very little was discussed about the environment, consequently the organizers felt that a conference was needed to address this very important topic." The conference was organized by the Hellenic Studies Programs of (1) California State University, Sacramento, (2) the UCLA-University of California, Los Angeles, and 3) Simon Fraser University, Canada, with the support of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).

Briefly on conference:

The Hellenic Studies programs of California State University, Sacramento; the UCLA- University of California, Los Angeles; and Simon Fraser University, Canada, with the support of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) hosted a conference in Athens, Greece entitled “Envisioning the Greek Landscape: From Thera to Climate Change” October 19–21, 2023. This conference has proven incredibly timely, as we have all witnessed the horrible fires of the summer and, more recently, devastating floods affecting Greece. The Vice Rector for Academic Affairs International Relations and Extroversion, Professor Sophia Papaioannou declared conference opening and welcomed the participants. She also attended the conference.

The Lieutenant Governor of California Eleni Kounalakis also conveyed her support. Eleni Kounalakis was sworn in as the 50th Lieutenant Governor of California by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 7th, 2019. She is the first woman elected Lt. Governor of California.